The Rise and Fall of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger

A year after being sworn-in as California's governor in 2003, Arnold
Schwarzenegger's popularity was so great there was talk
of a constitutional amendment so the GOP's Austrian-born action hero
could run for president. The movement failed, which might have been just
as well; Schwarzenegger leaves
office today with an approval rating of 22 percent and a state
budget deficit of $28 billion--hardly the kind of record that helps
launch White House bids. So how does one square the reversal of
Schwarzenegger's political fortunes with Marc Ambinder's assertion
in the October issue of The Atlantic that the Governator's legislative
victories "might have saved California"? From around the Web, a sampling
of opinions on what one of America's most prominent politicians got
wrong (and right) during his seven years in office:

Too Tough?
The movie star-turned-politician who "strutted into the state capital in
Sacramento vowing to take down its special interests and blow up its
bureaucracies," was ultimately derailed by the very veteran lawmakers he
thought he would tame, notes Jim
Christie of Reuters. Schwarzenegger's "early combativeness" with
Democrats hindered subsequent attempts to reach across the aisle. More
than anything, it seemed the novice politician failed to "appreciate how
much he would need lawmakers as partners in hard times like the recent
years and over the long haul," a fact that limited his ability to strike
deals amidst the economic downturn.

Lasting Impact NPR's Ina
Jaffe says two of Schwarzenegger's efforts to end gridlock in
Sacramento will have an impact on California politics for decades to
come. "First," she writes, "legislative districts will now be drawn by
an independent commission, instead of the legislature." Additionally,
"all candidates in primary elections will run on a single ballot. The
top two will make it to the runoff, even if they're both from the same
party."

Out of His Hands The Wall Street Journal's Stu
Woo writes Schwarzenegger's centrism--once a major source of his
appeal--alienated allies on both sides of the aisle when it came time to
address the state's budget crunch. "Republicans reviled him for raising
taxes. Democrats and social-welfare groups decried his spending cuts to
education, and health and social programs." With no key constituency to
defend his accomplishments, Schwarzenegger's legacy now relies on
outside factors, specifically "whether incremental and unproven
revisions to the state's electoral and fiscal systems pan out."

A
Noble Effort Writing in The Los Angeles Times, New America Foundation
senior fellow Joe Matthews argues Schwarzenegger's governorship may well
be judged as a success, thanks to his judicious use of the bully pulpit
to outflank an intractable state legislature. It's this "fundamental
dichotomy" that colors his entire administration. Matthews explains:

On
matters in which Schwarzenegger had a healthy amount of control--orders he could execute with a pen, legislation that could pass with a
simple majority of the Legislature, even ballot initiatives he could
champion and pay for personally--the governor has much to brag about.
He can point to landmark climate change legislation, bipartisan
appointments made on merit, infrastructure bonds that represent a down
payment on the rebuilding of California, workers' compensation reform
and voter-approved political reforms to the redistricting process and
primary election rules. ...

But on fiscal and budgetary
matters, Schwarzenegger suffered defeat after defeat. The state's fiscal
record after his seven years — California has the same budget deficit
now as in 2003, with a much larger debt--has led commentators across
the political spectrum to write him off as a failed governor. That
conclusion has a factual basis--and is deeply wrong. And it obscures
the most interesting and important lesson of his governorship. Put
simply: The sheer number and surpassing scale of Schwarzenegger's
failures to fix the state budget constitute a grand and peculiar
success, especially if Californians heed the lessons they provide.

Disappointing
The Sacramento Bee's editorial
board sees Schwarzenegger's tenure as a metaphor for California's
decline over the past decade. He entered office with an ambitious
agenda, "but like so many Californians of his time, he mortgaged his
future--and the state's future--on the myth the economy of the Golden State would
stay golden forever." While the paper concedes some of his legislation
will end up helping Californians, his biggest impact might be as a
cautionary tale--a reminder about "the consequences of depending on
gimmicks and refusing to 'pay as you go'."

This article is from the archive of our partner The Wire.

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Ray Gustini is the author of Lucky Town, a forthcoming book about sports in Washington, D.C. He is a former staff writer for The Atlantic Wire.